


Freefall

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 10:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8888131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: Thanks to the villain of the day, Steve gets wings. Which is completely unfair in Tony's opinion because Steve already looks too much like an angel. But if Steve doesn't get the chance to see if he can use them to actually fly - well, Tony won't ever forgive himself. Or Steve.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For the 'Bringing Food to the Lab' Imzy community prompt: Transformation

"Now that is, that is not allowed. Completely unfair. No way Rogers, you put those right back where you got them."

"I would if I could, Tony," Steve replies, shoulders slumped. Though whether his posture was because he was exhausted with this conversation, fighting the villain of the day, or the enormous feathered wings sprouting from his shoulder blades, Tony couldn't - no, okay, it was probably the wings.

Wings that rustle and almost slap Thor in the face when he leans too close. Steve sighs and apologizes, shuffling farther away. Tony doesn't follow, afraid of his fingers reaching out to touch without his permission.

Wings that are snow white except for dark blue banding on the tips. Wings that make Steve look like an angel - an avenging angel wearing the uniform of Captain America. How fitting. How completely unfair.

"Well nothing to do but test them out, I guess," Tony says, clapping his hands. His faceplate snaps closed, and he walks up to Steve.

"We don't know how long the wings will last, or if they're even capable of flight. And we still need to debrief-" Steve starts, his gaze focused on the SHIELD agents approaching them and his shoulders tensing.

"Cap, come on. You have _wings_ , and maybe only for the next five minutes. If you don't get a chance to test them out and see if you can fly, then I will never forgive myself. Or you."

"It is a great thing to fly, Captain. I would urge you to take this unexpected opportunity," Thor advises as he circles Steve again, his eyes on the wings.

"We can even take a vote, everyone in favor of pausing all stupid SHIELD responsibilities and letting Steve get a chance to fly with his new wings? Wings that are almost offensively pure white, Rogers, come on, you couldn't have tried out the red and gold color scheme even temporarily? Boring. Let's go, let's go." And Tony knew it wasn't a fear of heights or falling given Steve's propensity for leaping off of things he shouldn't be leaping off of. If the awkwardness of another body transformation stops Steve from enjoying the ability to fly for even a single minute, Tony is going to set things on fire.

Steve looks back over his shoulder, the wings flap in a powerful stroke that tosses Natasha and Thor's hair around. When he bites his lip and looks at the sky, Tony decides that he is allowed to be an asshole given this entire situation has an unknown expiration date. He steps forward, grabs Steve's hands, and blasts them up into the air.

"Tony!" Steve yelps, his wings flapping and changing their direction - proof, really, that Steve should be able to fly.

"Come on, Cap. Fly with me."

Tony lets Steve go.

Steve falls. Tony had brought them up high enough that it wouldn't kill him, but it would definitely hurt. Steve's wings flap, fully extended and they take up almost the entire width of the street. Steve slows, sinking back to the ground a little slower with each stroke of the wings. But he continues to only fall, and a few moments later he is back on the street landing in a crouch.

Steve looks up at Tony, a fierce expression on his face.

"Huh. I was so sure that would work. My bad," Tony calls out. He stays in the air, not quite willing to subject himself to Steve's reprimanding back on the ground just yet.

Steve's wings extend again, and with several strokes sends dirt and wind flying. The Avengers and surrounding SHIELD agents duck and cover their heads, and JARVIS corrects for the change in drafts to keep Tony stationary. Steve takes a running start to leap off the hood of a car, wings straining. He stays airborne for a moment before falling back to the ground, and Steve takes two more awkward hops, wings stroking, before he manages to stay in the air.

He rises, bit by bit, and he's almost level with Tony before his right wing scrapes against the glass of the office building. Steve overcorrects and his left wing crashes into the opposite side, and Tony swoops down and grabs Steve arms again before he falls more than ten feet.

Tony lifts them up until they are above most of the buildings with room to spare. This time, when Tony lets go, Steve recovers from the fall and is soon hovering in front of Tony again.

"So. You can fly," Tony points out.

"Yeah. Looks like you're out of a job," Steve tosses back with one of the biggest smiles on his face that Tony has ever seen.

"Oh please, you think you can outrace me?" Tony tosses back as his heart thuds against the reactor.

Steve's smile changes to a smirk, and then he's soaring higher and higher.

Tony follows, trailing behind. He isn't at max speed, but this is a good position for catching Steve if he falls.

Then Steve does fall, his wings tucked in to his body and dropping past Tony. He almost panics - okay, his heart rate spikes and JARVIS might have classified it as actual panicking - and dives after him,  but as Steve reaches the tops of the buildings, he unfurls his wings with an audible thwack, and Steve soars.

"You're a menace," Tony calls out as he comes up along Steve. He'd had to swerve at the last second to avoid burning any of Steve's feathers.

Steve laughs before trying out a barrel roll.

Tony takes it upon himself to show Steve a few of his own tricks in the air, and they spend the next several hours doing aerial acrobatics. Steve at least saves his dives for when he's over the ocean, rather than the street. Which worked out well, given that Steve has misjudged his third attempt and had gotten swamped by a wave rather than coasting just over the water.

Tony had fished him out, laughing.

In the end, Steve had gotten five hours and thirty-two minutes with wings before they disappeared, the only evidence a few snowy white feathers fluttering behind him. Tony grabbed a handful that had drifted on the wind before diving after Steve, catching him around the waist.

Tony brought them back to the Tower, Steve grinning and flushed but quiet.

His bots divested him of the armor, Steve trailing behind him. Tony takes a quick moment to run his fingers along the feathers he still has in his hand, enjoying the feel. He then turns and offers the entire handful of feathers to Steve, who reaches out to take just one.

"That was...fun," Steve settles on saying, his eyes on the feather. Tony can see the longing on his face, and resolves to take another look at those wings he built for the military way back when. Then Steve looks up, grin bright. "Thank you, Tony. I'm glad - I'm glad I tested them out."

"Anytime you need someone to drop you from the sky, let me know. Happy to help out," Tony quips. He closes his fist on the rest of the feathers - what, he'd offered them to Steve, he only wanted the one, of course the guy wasn't selfish and didn't want them all - because he's going to keep them for scientific reasons.

"As long as you can catch me too, then it's a deal," Steve says. He catches Tony in a quick but tight hug, Tony only barely managing to understand what's happening before Steve is taking a step back. Face flushed, Steve grins at him, "The rest of the team better have food ready, I'm starving."

"Uh, yeah, sure, I'll - JARVIS, if they haven't then correct this failure immediately. Food, all of it, hungry super soldier here who tried to fall to his death at least ten times today."

"Excuse you, I could fly. I had _wings_."

"Next time they'll be butterfly wings. You can flutter at the villain, it'll be super intimidating I can see it already."

 


End file.
